The Curse
by sparrhawk
Summary: What if Regina did not kill Graham?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: If I owned Once Upon a Time, no way in hell would I have allowed Graham to die.**

Regina's shock, her hurt, quickly turned into anger, the bitterness deep inside she had tried so hard to forget quickly consuming her. First it was Henry, now it was Graham – Emma was taking everything from her. This was the second time the Huntsman had gone against her and she had every mind to be rid of him. It wouldn't take much effort after all. All She had to do was take his heart from the crypt and crush it.

* * *

Emma couldn't deny that she really did care for Graham. The poor man had been heartbroken and empty for so long and she of all people would understand how he felt. Maybe it was due to this, or maybe it was because of something else, but as Graham tended to her wound, she could not help but feel… what could only be described as… a pull between them. And as he put the first aid kit away, she gave in to that feeling, and she walked over and kissed him.

* * *

Regina looked down at the throbbing object she had in her hands – the Huntsman's heart. All she had to do was give it a squeeze and graham would be on the floor. Dead.

However, the Huntsman had yet to outlive his usefulness. He was still a valuable chess piece. Having his heart as leverage made sure of that.

* * *

Saying that Graham was surprised when Emma kissed him would be an understatement, not that he was complaining. She had just always seemed so detached, so guarded. But he got over his surprise almost as quickly as it had come, pulling her closer to him as he kissed back.

Then images, no, memories began flashing through his mind – a dead deer, the wolf, Regin- no, the Queen, Mary Mar- no, Snow White!

He pulled back, trying to process everything.

He remembered.

Cupping Emma's face, he thanked her, and moved in to kiss her again.

Emma had broken his curse. Both the curse Regina had cast over everyone in Storybrooke and the curse that had haunted him for so long – his inability to feel.

He knew that Emma would not believe him if he told her the truth. No one in their right mind would. Not without hard evidence. He made a resolution, then and there, that he would help Henry break the curse. But right now, he was content with just enjoying the moment.

**It's kinda short, but it's just the prologue and my reasoning on why Regina would keep Graham alive. I was thinking of setting the story in season 2 and just have flashbacks (a little like this) to fill in some blanks of Graham's involvement in breaking the curse. Anyone think it's a bad idea? Anyway, thanks for reading :)**


	2. Chapter 1

Graham looked on warily as the purplish smoke engulfed the town, his senses on high alert. Henry claimed that Emma had broken the curse, but why were they still in Storybrooke? More importantly, what on earth was that smoke?

"Graham!"

The sheriff snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the boy.

"What should we do now?" Henry asks.

Ever since he had gotten his memory back, he and Henry had gotten especially close, being the only two who really knew about the curse, and the only ones who have been doing whatever they could to break it. Their relationship had even developed into something close to that of father and son, with Henry having complete faith, absolute trust in Graham, and becoming as dependent on him as a child would on his parents.

* * *

-Flashback-

Graham needed to get to Henry. Asap. Not only to help him with breaking the curse, but to get more information on where his heart might be. Self centred as it may be, that was his top priority. Besides, he would not be of much help to Henry while he was still mostly in Regina's clutches.

He had originally planned on looking Henry up after his lessons had ended. Seeing as it was still fairly early in the morning, he decided that he still had several hours before he could do anything about the matter. So, with thoughts of paperwork, tickets and the other tedious things his job entailed replacing those of Henry, his heart and the curse, he headed off to the station – Huntsman or not, he was still the town's sheriff, he had been for 28 years, and he still had a job to do. As always however, things didn't exactly go according to plan.

In Henry's excitement at the thought of having a new ally, he had practically accosted Graham outside the station.

"Graham!"

The man in question paused, turned towards the voice and raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Henry waved the question off, seeing it irrelevant and unimportant.

"Come with me." He whispered, grabbing Graham's hand and pulling him back towards his car.

"Hurry before my mom sees me!" he continued with more urgency, signalling for Graham to unlock the doors.

Figuring it wouldn't be of much use arguing with Henry, and that it would only trouble Emma should she catch Henry playing hooky, he obliged, making a mental note to drive Henry back to school.

"So did you get your heart back? Is the curse broke– wait that can't be it, nothing seems to have changed…" Henry rambled on, quickening as he spoke. "But, you… do remember?" Henry finally slowed down, asking the question hesitantly, hopefully. His desperation to have someone who finally believed him had replaced his initial curiosity.

Graham smiled reassuringly at the boy, "yeah, I remember everything."

Henry's face immediately broke into a large smile. A huge flood of emotions overcame him – relief, ecstasy, excitement, self-satisfaction and of course that feeling of success kids get when they realise that they had been right all along and the adults were blundering fools.

"I knew it! I knew I wasn't crazy! You believe me now don't you? We have to tell the rest!" Henry exclaimed, practically jumping up and down on his seat.

"Woah kid, not so fast! Just because you have me to back you up now doesn't mean everyone else will believe you. They would just think that I'm mad. They have been made to believe that your fairytales are nothing more than that remember? Both of us won't be able to make them change their mindsets just like that." Graham explained.

Henry's smile faltered for a split second, in spite of this, nothing was going to dampen his mood now that he had someone who believed him."I guess you're right. That's why we need Emma's help. Only the Saviour can break the curse! Speaking of which, what exactly happened? Oh, did you find your heart?"

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that. No, Regina still has my heart. We went to the crypt but we couldn't find anythi– "

Graham was cut off by Henry, "By 'we', you mean Emma don't you? As I said before, only she can undo the curse! How did she do it? Maybe we can get her to do the same thing to the others so they'll remember!"

Graham shivered at the idea.

"I don't think that would work, you see she k–" Maybe it wouldn't be the best idea to tell the kid he kissed his biological mother. Again.

"She kind of, erm, tried to… help me with my issue with Re–" And it would probably be a worse idea to tell the boy he had a sexual relationship with his adoptive mother.

"My issue about my heart and my inability to feel" The best lie is the one closest to the truth is it not?

Graham sighed silently in relief, having dodged the bullet.

Apparently, Henry believed that answer, though the idea of the curse not going to be broken anytime soon did not seem to diminish his optimism even in the slightest.

"That's it! Maybe she has to help each person through their individual problems for the curse to break!"

Graham had to admit, the theory did make sense. When Emma had kissed him, she helped him through his biggest trial. She helped him to feel again.

Before Henry could begin to elaborate on his new plan, his school came into view.

"Aww, must I?" Henry looked to graham pleadingly.

"Yes. Both your mothers will be very worried if you don't," Before Henry could complain, Graham continued, "Hey, we've discussed all that we needed to. We can continue on after your lessons."

Henry brightened up at that.

"Ok, I'll hold you to that! You are now officially part of Operation Cobra!" He declared happily and hopped off the car.

"Operation Cobra?" Graham laughed quietly to himself as he drove back to the station.

* * *

"We get some answers," Graham replied, his thoughts immediately travelling to a certain antique shop owner.

"Go get changed kid," Emma ordered Henry, turning to Graham as the boy left.

Graham could not help but smile, "you're welcome."

Emma raised an eyebrow as Graham continued, chuckling "is it really that hard to say a thank you?"

"Last I checked, I was the one who broke the curse."

"You wouldn't have believed if it weren't fo–"

"Come on!" Henry dashed out of the toilet, taking the two adults by the hands and dragging them out of the hospital.

The street was a heart-warming sight. Everywhere they turned seemed to be some sort of reunion. Not too far from them stood Mary Margaret and David, hand in hand. Emma's pace slowed down, and eventually she stopped walking completely. She was conflicted to say the least. All her life, she had dreamt of seeing her parents, but at the same time she could not help but feel a tinge of betrayal for being abandoned, even if it had been to give her her best chance. To give everyone in Storybrooke their best chance.

Seeing this, Graham took her hand, gave it a slight squeeze and gently pulled her to them. Of all the touching reunions on the street Emma's reunion with her parents took the cake. Graham himself had been abandoned when he was a child. He had been left to the wolves, literally. But the wolves were now his family, and he wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. As if on cue, he saw his brother out of the corner of his eye.

Deciding to give the family some privacy, Graham turned towards the whitish grey wolf, but was stopped by Snow.

"We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," She smiled at him, her eyes filling with even more tears, "Thank you." And with that she pulled him into a hug.

Prince James gave him a nod, acknowledging the man who had freed him from the evil queen back in the day. Emma smiled at the person who had made her son (and her, though she'd never admit it) so happy the past few weeks. Henry walked over to him, a big smile plastered on his face, "Graham and I have so much to tell you," he announced to his mom and grandparents.

His biological parents may not have wanted him, but this wasn't so bad. He had the wolves as his family, and he had found a family in this group of people.

**A huge thank you to all those who reviewed! I was on a high after reading each of them! I hope this chapter isn't disappointing, because I honestly thought some parts could use some rewriting.. Thanks for reading :D**


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